GAME THREAD: NCAAF: SOUTH CAROLINA (3-0) at LSU (3-0)

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Ticker) -- Jacob Hester and LouisianaState passed the first of several tests in the SoutheasternConference.


Hester paced a balanced ground attack and the second-rankedTigers dominated the first three quarters en route to a 28-16victory over No. 12 South Carolina on Saturday.


It was the 11th straight victory and the 16th consecutive homewin for LSU (4-0, 2-0 SEC West), which won the final seven gamesof the 2006 campaign.


Saturday's contest was billed as a possible thriller between twoof the top defensive teams in the SEC. But LSU pounded out 290rushing yards to improve to 15-2-1 all-time against SouthCarolina.


"Considering it was a quality opponent, I thought our teamplayed pretty well," Tigers coach Les Miles said. "We had todeal with adverse conditions."


Hester was the catalyst for the Tigers' running game, grindingout 88 yards and a TD on 17 carries. Trindon Holliday andbackup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux also made big contributionson the ground, collecting 73 yards and 59 yards, respectively.

"Trindon and I are totally different runners," Hester said. "Wereally pounded at them the first couple of series and thenopened it up for Trindon."


"The offense is coming together real good," Holliday added. "Westarted off real slow, but we've picked it up as we've gonealong."


The Tigers' overwhelming running game overshadowed a poorperformance by Matt Flynn, who completed just 8-of-19 passes for70 yards and an interception.


However, LSU's defense also answered the call, limiting theGamecocks (3-1, 1-1 East) to just 16 yards on the ground.

"As a defense, we're stingy," said defensive tackle GlennDorsey, who recorded eight tackles. "We don't want to give upanything. We just have to make corrections this week and getready for the next game."


It was an excellent all-around performance for a Tigers squadwhich has upcoming games against ranked conference foes Florida,Kentucky and Alabama on its schedule.


"They (LSU) potentially could be (the best team in thecountry)," South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said. "They havethe line on both sides. Up front, they're as good as anybody.We're not anxious to play LSU again, let's put it that way.We're not at their level."


South Carolina struck first when Mike Davis plunged into the endzone from a yard out to open the scoring with 2:46 left in theopening quarter.


But it was all LSU from there, as Holliday raced for a 33-yardtouchdown run to forge a 7-7 tie just 90 seconds later. TheTigers took the lead for good with 12:13 left in the first halfwhen Flynn found tight end Richard Dixon for a one-yard score tomake it 14-7.


LSU used some trickery to double its advantage right beforehalftime. With placekicker Colt David lined up for a 32-yardfield goal, Flynn received the snap as the holder.

In a perfectly executed play, Flynn flipped the ball over hisright shoulder to David, who scampered untouched for a 15-yardTD to make it 21-7 with 1:10 left in the first half.

"We run that in practice every day," David said. "I wasexcited. I was nervous about my footing. I didn't want to slipwhen I was taking off. It's good - I liked it. It's my firsttouchdown. I never scored one in high school."


Hester closed out the scoring for LSU nine minutes into thethird quarter with a nine-yard TD run to make it 28-7.

After closing within 28-10 on Ryan Succop's 23-yard field goalwith 7:44 to play, South Carolina made things interesting whenChris Smelley found Kenny McKinley for a one-yard TD pass.

However, the Gamecocks failed to convert the ensuing two-pointconversion, keeping their deficit at 28-16.


"We had some chances, and our defense held them pretty well inthe second half," Spurrier said. "We didn't get any real bigplays (defensively), but our guys hung in there."


Smelley looked sharp after replacing the ineffective BlakeMitchell, completing 12-of-26 passes for 174 yards and a score.Mitchell finished just 7-of-16 for 70 yards and aninterception.